Former Syracuse Crunch captain Dan Smith announced Thursday that he is doing something he never did on the ice - quitting.

Smith told me he is retiring from the game for a mixture of reasons - advancing age (33), disinterest in his services and, most of all, a bad left knee.

Smith said he still intended on returning to hockey for most of last summer. But fluid started building up on his knee, and in late August he had surgery to drain it. The recovery time was expected to last 2-3 weeks. At that point Smith planned on coming back to hockey, but repeated setbacks with his recovery now make that impossible.

"I can't run. I can't walk up stairs. I was trying to go sledding with my daughter yesterday. I couldn't walk up the hill,'' he said. "I legitimately can not do any physical activity. I can do a lot of things through pain. But this isn't pain. It feels like bone is grinding on bone. I just want to function normal, is what I'm looking for now.''

This, of course, explains why no team has signed him as an in-season replacement. It also exonerates Columbus' decision-making to some degree, although assistant GM Chris MacFarland told me on July 1 - well before the extent of Smith's problems emerged - that the organization would not bring him back.

Smith is living near Dubuque, Iowa, and will work for an energy company there. He also might try to land a job with a new USHL team that begins play there next season.

"It kind of (stinks), especially if you don't know it's coming. Obviously, I thought I could play a few more years,'' he said.

Smith said he was especially upset to miss the Crunch's outdoor game this season. I told him the team should bring him back to be an honorary captain.

"That would have been so sweet to play in,'' he said. "They shouldn't need to hype that. Everyone should want to see that, That should sell out. Who wouldn't want to see that?''

Smith said he noted the Crunch's 6-0 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday. I joked that never would have happened with him in the lineup.

"Ha ha. We lost games last year like that,'' he said. "You don't want to see any of the teams you used to play for lose like that.''